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Should City Replace Yaya With Pogba?

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Manchester City are set to join the wild race for the Juventus midfielder. Image: Getty Images

Not a transfer window goes by without the persistent mentioning of arguably the biggest midfield prospect on the globe, Paul Pogba. With the Frenchman's future at Juventus once again a hot topic making the rounds of transfer gossip, Manchester City are looking to rejuvenate themselves too, angling for the 22-year-old with their exodus set to initiate after a torrid campaign.For their high standards, Manchester City have capitulated this season. On paper, their team looked solid, withholding an abundance of world-class talent poised to sustain a bid for their third Premier League title. While no one could figure out eventual winners Chelsea, most managed to crack the code behind Manuel Pellegrini's side—and their title charge was over before it even started.Hampered by inconsistency, plagued by a lack of motivation and weighed down with too much baggage, the sky-blue-clad City faltered in circumstances they couldn't see coming. Last summer, it was a forgotten birthday wish which would cast a shadow of doubt over his future, this time it's been his incompetence on the field leading to Yaya Toure nearing an exit away from the Etihad Stadium. Lying ahead for the club is a painstaking regeneration. The concept of second-place doesn't sit nicely with the billionaires pulling the strings—let alone with that finishing position still an uncertainty, along with a challenge for the title that never came into fruition. Whether or not Manuel Pellegrini will be in charge when the new season kicks off, one certainty remains: The team to be managed shall be shades different.

Yaya Toure has endured a tough season part of a deteriorating Manchester City. Image: talkSport

Gone are the days of the once world-class talent—now they find themselves treading in treacle midway through their career. This won't be the end of the road for most, since other clubs will happily take them and likely see them perform. But as a cohesive unit, the parts just don't compliment each other like the team that sent supporters into delirium with a last-gasp Aguero goal to win their first title, or overcoming the relentless Liverpool surge to take their second.Players like Paul Pogba are just what's needed. Even though he wasn't fit to play in the game that clinched the Old Lady yet another Scudetto to add to their star-spangled collection, he was a valued component to Massimiliano Allegri's side, adding a core to an already-stacked setup in the middle of the park, and more than holding his own on the physical side of things, serving his duties—and throwing in a few of the illustriously-named "golazos" in there too.So there's no surprise that when Manchester City are looking to rebuild, Paul Pogba is a name stumbling into the same conversations as they are on several occasions. Bags of potential remain untapped, but even so, he's an excellent player who can just improve time after time, and for them to yield those benefits is the first step back to the top of the unforgiving pecking order in English football.

Should they sign him, they'll have a force to rely on in the centre of the team, a talent that is blossoming, not levelling off to stagnant improvement. A wealth of similarities are shared between the two, from physical presence, to goal threats and dynamic box-to-box football. While it won't necessarily fix the whole problem, since new resources are required in several positions, it will be astronomical in the new-found presence that Yaya Toure once brought in the centre, but what has seemed to evaporate over the past year.Manuel Pellegrini instead would assure the press that Yaya Toure will receive a cake for his birthday, but remained tight-lipped on the future of the Ivory Coast powerhouse. His agent, meanwhile, was much less cauitious in speaking to Sky Sports News HQ saying he is "90% certain" the midfielder will leave in the summer. Paris and Inter were reportedly interested, but if Juventus aren't, it's a whole other layer of complexity to this deal.A swap-deal may not suffice with the big money that is expected to come with the progressively-imminent transfer of Paul Pogba. Yaya Toure still has a few quality years in him, but his age and poor season won't at all help his use as a bargaining chip in this potential deal. £50 million, as reported by talkSport, could tempt the midfielder, but when you have Juventus chief Giuseppe Marotta telling the press "Our goal is to reinforce our team. Pogba, for us is not for sale," something huge may be needed.It won't be easy. Reports also surfaced from the Daily Mail that a £58 million bid for Paul Pogba from Barcelona was rejected. If this is the case, then not only do City need to dig deep into the pockets, they need to do it quickly with some of Europe's best also in the race for the France international.There's another element to what this deal could do too, although remaining negligible in the business state of mind. After a controversial spell with Manchester United, Paul Pogba departed, and while reports often emerge of the Red Devils looking to get him back, should the cross-city rivals acquire them instead, it will be more than a bragging right, it will be a statement of intent.Freshness, intensity and so much room for improvement, he'll act more than just an enhanced Yaya Toure—this can lead to balancing the scales against a Chelsea side that may dominate the English game for years to come. The only gamble coming from it is if City will have enough cash to make further changes in a side that really needs it.